Sadly, this was a complete miss for me. It was advertised as a mystery/thriller and it was more a story on being a reporter and the many things they have to balance. I was bored throughout the book and just uninterested in the reporting aspect. The characters were all flat and underdeveloped as well so I was unable to connect with anyone. There was also a lot of focus on the current political atmosphere which was disappointing because it felt like the author was pushing an agenda. I think she would have had more success writing an autobiography about her experiences as a reporter than attempting a fiction book. 2⭐️

A fun murder mystery with an in-depth look on the lives of news reporters. Reading how tv stations’ newsroom work, from getting the story to investigating to live reporting and airing the news was really a huge eye-opener! I was utterly fascinated especially since I once entertained being a broadcast journalist back in high school! I love Jolene’s dedication to her job, her work ethics and her sense of humor! This book is really an entertaining and educational read! Definitely recommending this!

This is a good debut mystery set in the world of local television reporting. I noticed some aspects that might be improved in terms of plot and description, but the author seems to have the right instincts and I am confident she will likely sharpen up and hone her writing/pacing/plotting/character skills as she continues to write mysteries.

Set in Phoenix, Arizona, the action (or non-action for much of the book) takes the reader to various neighborhoods in the area where we hear all about the history, sometimes interesting, of particular locales. I imagine Phoenix area residents might enjoy recognizing them. A couple of times I was thrown off by some arcane facts about places or the protagonists' past that didn't seem to contribute much to the main mystery.

I enjoyed the inside view of the local television reporter's world with all it's trials and tribulations though I felt there were too many repetitive details that occurred over and over. I found myself wishing we had a better sense of what kind of person the protagonist was, beyond her penchant for biting her nails and feeling sorry for herself because she kept missing the big scoop, out-maneuvered by a stereotypically glamorous t.v. reporter in heels time and again. I just didn't get a good feel for Jolene as a person beyond her surface sarcasm and veiled humor, which I appreciated, but I wondered about so many other things.

I honestly thought about not continuing a few times, but I persevered, even though the crime (murder by poisoning of a hateful t.v. personality) seemed like it would never get solved, but I knew - I just KNEW - the heroine would win in the end by figuring it out. And, I was right.

The problem was, though, that it just took too long. I felt exasperated by her sad-sack demeanor and perennial retreats to her sad goldfish in her sad apartment to eat sad food and go sadly to sleep. Speaking of which, I asked myself afterwards what was up with the weird guy that had just moved in there showing up with flowers and talking like a deranged psycho in a couple of short scenes? Was he meant to be a decoy suspect? If so, it wasn't very convincing to me that he had any connection to the murder.

I have to say, though, that I am glad I stuck it out because the last 20% of the book was a real edge-of-the seat exciting read. I think that a few more suspenseful moments earlier in the book would have added more to the overall mystery, as would have tightening up some of the descriptive scenes and adding a bit more insight into the protagonist and other characters. I'll certainly give this author another try when she publishes again because I see great promise and I really did love the ending of the book.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and the author for providing me with an eARC of this book, which was published on March 26, 2024. I appreciate the opportunity and enjoyed the read overall.

Jolene Garcia is a TV reporter in Phoenix, AZ who reports on both general and special interest stories. She interviews a controversial radio host, and he soon turns up dead in his radio station. There is a race to see who can report on the story and to break the news with each development. This premise had promise, but in general - it just didn't work for me.

This book was just so... boring. For being a novel about a murdered radio talkshow host, it didn't feel very exciting or exhilarating. I can definitely see how Christina Estes was probably a good journalist, but it just didn't translate well into telling a fictional story.

There was far too much emphasis on small details regarding Phoenix, AZ that had nothing to do with the underlying plot. The book felt more like an advertisement to come visit Phoenix rather than read about a fictional journalist trying to uncover who committed a murder.

Jolene was also a really unlikable character. Was she just doing her job as a reporter? Yes - but it made me realize how thankful I was that I didn't end up going into journalism because reporters truly will just harass anyone to get I story, I guess. I hated how often she called her police source and heckled him to give her answers. HE HAS A JOB TOO GIRL! LEAVE HIM ALONE!!

Honestly, I have to just leave a short review because that's how I felt about the book anyways - not really worth my time.

When word gets out that radio show host Larry Lemmon is found dead in the studio, the journalists, including Jolene Garcia, head to the scene to get the story. Jolene was the one who he gave his last interview to, so she feels she should be the one to get the big story in order to make her career. But will this story make or break her career.

This story gives you some insight on how journalists works and the things that some journalists go through to get the big story. It was a good mystery with some twists and turns.

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in return for my honest review.

I got sucked into the “read now” black hole theory it’s this one and I’m not the intended audience for this. DNF. Might try to revisit in the future.

In an election year, I thought this book would be interesting from its premise, but I am so inodiated by ads that I just can't get through it. This time it's me, not the book necessarily. I have tried and read a good portion of this one and it's just not for me.

I think this could be a decent book for the right person, but that wasnt me this time. I was excited to read Off the Air but the book dragged. It was a bit boring, not the excitement I was hoping for! There is a murder investigation going on with the right-wing radio host potentially being poisoned. But theres just no suspense and no thrill.
It's more of a drag with too much detail about journalism itself.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I had no idea how fast paced and cutthroat the world of reporting is!! I love that Christina Estes was inspired to write, Off The Air, by her many years as a professional reporter. That fact added so much to the realistic aspect of the book. The mystery and characters were amazing.

*3.5 Stars On My Instagram Account*

"Getting it right is more important than getting it first."

"... isn't that unethical? Journalists are supposed to present the facts and other people's opinions. Not our own opinion."

"...he's moving faster than disinformation on Facebook."

The above quotes are what I expect from an ethical investigative TV reporter like Jolene Garcia in Off The Air by award winning debut author Christina Estes. What confused me was that her actions didn't always match these thoughts.

Jolene is an ambitious local TV reporter in Phoenix and when a controversial radio host dies under suspicious circumstances Jolene has an edge since she was the last one to interview him.

The premise is excellent and written by an experienced reporter gives us insight into the workings of a local news studio. As a journalism major in college I have to say this cut throat world made me glad I minored in business.

Voice actress Marcella Black gives an exceptional performance of Jolene trying to prove herself in an extremely competitive field. But the decision to make this all about her desperation to succeed took away her empathy and my connection to her. It wasn't about justice to find a killer; it was about being first to get the story. Jolene has no personal life, not even a best friend, and forget about a hint of romance.

The murder wasn't really mysterious despite many suspects but I appreciated the minor twist of how he was done in. I would've loved for Jolene to have had an "aha" moment that life is more than a career and it might be healthy to be "off the air" once in a while. Still looking forward to the next book from this promising debut author.

I received a free copy of this book/audiobook from the publishers via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

2.5 stars, rounded up

This is such a tough one to rate! Off the Air has great bones: lovely writing, clearly knowledgable author, diversity in cast, and a relatively unique POV. And I generally love reading debuts from an author. There is something really fun about enjoying a novel while thinking "You are doing it!" with regards to someone's dream of writing.

Yet, as other reviewers have mentioned, the random Arizona facts and journalistic minutiae interspersed were so distracting. Backstory is necessary, sure. But we are given random paragraphs of almost unrelated Arizona information and very specific detail. Honestly, if you told me that this book was a promo piece written to sneakily teach people about Arizona, I think I would believe you. It absolutely distracted me. Between the Arizona AND the journalism specificity, I could not really get into this story or feel connected to the characters.

I am bummed to write this review because I think without the distractions or maybe with some additional polish, this book would be quite good. I think Christina Estes has a lovely voice and a pretty cool area of expertise, but this just wasn't it for me. Maybe Arizonans (?) or people really into journalism might connect more here. The mystery and twists and turns were fun when you got to them.

I liked this mystery involving reporters. However, it really shows the disgusting side of the media, so I don't know that I would continue the series if there are more.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

This book wasn't bad, but it wasn't my favorite.
I really liked the mystery, and the last half of the book was riveting! It was also interesting to see things from a new reporters point of view.
Unfortunately, I didn't like any of the characters except Nate. They barely had any story to them. Jolene, the main character, had very little backstory and made many bad, unethical decisions. She didn't even learn a lesson at the end of it. I understood some of her frustrations and could understand the hardships reporters face.
Nate seemed to be the only one with a conscience.
This was also very heavily seeped in American politics. If you're not a fan of American politics, this probably isn't for you.
I also felt there were a lot of loose ends. A lot of smaller things happened that didn't seem to have a resolution or answer.
This book was a miss for me, but it could be a hit for someone else!

When I started reading Off the Air, I realized I hadn’t reviewed many books where the main character is a reporter (newspaper or TV). So, I was very interested in what went on behind the cameras and how a reporter worked a story. Off the Air did explore this (alongside Jolene investigating Larry’s murder).

Off the Air’s main storyline centers on Jolene and her investigation into Larry Lemmon’s murder. Jolene’s investigation was well-written and gave good insight into how cutthroat reporting can be. But it felt a little flat when the focus was off the newsroom and onto Jolene’s personal life. It also didn’t help that Jolene was just as ruthless in her personal life as in her professional life.

I had mixed feelings about Jolene. Professionally, she was everything I thought a news reporter should be: focused and three steps ahead of her competition. But personally, that ruthlessness didn’t do her any favors. Everything I liked about her while she was working turned me off when the author switched to her personal life.

The mystery angle of Off the Air did keep me guessing. The victim was a shock jock who made enemies every time he opened his mouth. So, there were a lot of suspects and motives. I was shocked at not only who the murderer was but why that person chose to murder the victim. In a way, I did sympathize with that person, but to resort to murder. Nope. Of course, once Jolene revealed the motive behind Larry’s murder, there was an additional story to report.

The end of Off the Air was interesting. The author wrapped up the main storyline (Larry’s murder) but left other secondary storylines unresolved. It will be interesting to see how relationships change (for better or worse) throughout this series.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, NetGalley, and Christina Estes for allowing me to read and review Off the Air. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

Off the Air loosely follows the aftermath of the murder of famous talk show host, Larry Lemmon. Since Lemmon was known for his controversial conservative viewpoints, the police immediately have a list of suspects. The book is told from the point of view of local television reporter Jolene Garcia as she attempts to chase down leads on Lemmon's murder so that her news station can be the first to report new information.

Overall, this book provides readers with a fictionalized murder investigation told from a reporter's point of view. I wouldn't say that Jolene cared about solving the murder. She was just obsessed with acquiring the next new bit of "exclusive" information to report on. Jolene is primarily focused on tracking down an interview with Lemmon's ex-wives and detractors, once again, so that her news station will have the "exclusive" interviews.

Since this book is labeled as a mystery, I was expecting Jolene to take the role of detective and crack this case. However, that is not at all what this book delivered. Jolene came across as annoying and obsessive when tracking down new leads. There were several instances where other characters called her out on this, and she didn't see that she'd done anything wrong.

I did enjoy the last quarter of the book. That's the only part where Jolene played detective and found some useful information.

Jolene Garcia is a TV reporter in a time when reporting isn't the objective, truth-delivering media she dreamed of doing. All her network cares about is likes, clicks, and followers on social media scoops, even as one of the city's most controversial and outspoken shock jocks is murdered and the nation's eyes are on their city.
I appreciated Jolene's dedication to her career, but she makes one dumb mistake after another in the most basic of amateur detective plots dressed up in a journalist's overcoat. It plays out as a lament of the awful way the news is treated now and how much pressure is put on traditional journalists to be anything and everything without support, which is interesting but feels like it's part of a different story that got added to the original plot to beef it up.
Overall, it's not a bad read, but it's also not something I'm going out of my way to recommend.

Happy thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the interesting read!

As a TV reporter in Phoenix, Arizona Jolene is constantly trying to beat the clock and her colleges to share the latest update on the death of a popular, or some would say unpopular host.

I flipped over to the audio (ALC) early on, and I'm not sure I would have finished the EARC. I found the characters hard to connect with. For me, Jolene was unlikeable and her character wasn't developed enough for me to appreciate her flaws.

There were also random snippets of information that didn't seem to tie back to the story or build upon the plot.

I did appreciate the insight into reporting and how it's changed over the years.

What a fun read! A great mystery story that keeps you guessing from beginning through to the end. Christina Estes takes her readers through all of the aspects of a great mystery read!

Thank you so much to NetGalley for sharing an arc with me in exchange for an honest review. I highly recommend this fun read!

This book… I just couldn’t get into it, like, at all. I’m not sure what the point was supposed to be, but it wasn’t executed right. It’s definitely a me thing and I’ll come back to it at some point to give it a second chance!